RAHUL'S CALM NATURE PLAYED A BIG ROLE

When Roger Binny and his mates went into the 1983 World Cup, they did so, famously, as underdogs. The current Indian team, though, goes into each ICC tournament as a favourite, which makes failure even more heartbreaking.

- RIYAD MATHEW

Binny, now as BCCI president, had a close-up view when India broke the 11-year curse of not lifting an ICC trophy.

While there, Binny also caught up with old friends including Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd. “Sir Garfield Sobers is 89 and he still walks around to the matches. He sits and watches the whole day,” he said.

He also spoke about how the gentleman Richards had lost a bit of weight and muscle mass, but had remained fit at 72. “Viv was telling everybody around, you know, this is the team that did us in 83,” he said. The West Indies legend had also said that if the Men in Maroon faltered, he wanted India to win. And in fact, when he met Binny in Antigua, he said, “You’re on your way.”

India did make it all the way, but Binny knows the job is not done. Cricket in India never stops and the next item on his list is filling the position of head coach that Rahul Dravid leaves behind.

Hours before boarding a chartered flight to Delhi from Barbados—which has been hit by Hurricane Beryl—Binny spoke to THE WEEK about the World Cup, India’s success and about Gautam Gambhir as a candidate for the coach’s job. Excerpts from the interview:

Q/ It had been 11 years since a World Cup win and India finally have the monkey off their back.

A/ The cricket these boys played was superb. The way they fought. We were in two very difficult positions. One against Pakistan. You know, they were sailing along in New York. And they should have won the game, actually. But somehow, we were able to turn around that game. And also in the final [against South Africa]. We were in the same situation in the final. We were [slipping] at one time. After the 15th over. The courage they showed and the fighting qualities were really good.

Q/ India had lost every final since 2013. Finally, something has come together. Would you attribute this to a single reason or multiple?